


no longer a secret

by Escapethistown



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25772512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Escapethistown/pseuds/Escapethistown
Summary: JJ had a nice quiet night at home planned, while Emily was going to have dinner with her mother. Then, her mother showed up early, Will had a family emergency and had to drop off Henry. Suddenly, Emily's life was on full display for her mother.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 1
Kudos: 115





	no longer a secret

It was late on a Friday evening. JJ was in leggings and one of Emily’s old oversized Yale shirts, but Emily was in a formal dress, preparing to meet her mother for dinner. They were sitting at their kitchen table, talking quietly about the day that was finally over, as well as their separate plans for the evening. JJ had a nice, quiet evening at home planned, complete with wine, a bubble bath and a book.

Suddenly, they could hear the front door click as it was unlocked. Emily stood to go see who was there – there were only a handful of people with a key, after all.

“Mother,” she said, surprised. “I thought you weren’t going to be here for another half hour.”

Elizabeth Prentiss continued down the hall to meet her daughter, walking past her toward the kitchen. She stopped short when she saw the other woman sitting at the kitchen table.

“I figured we could have a drink before we went. I didn’t know you would already have company.”

“Mom, you remember JJ.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Ambassador,” JJ said, standing up to greet her girlfriend’s mother.

“Yes, same to you,” Elizabeth said, looking back toward her daughter.

JJ, sensing the awkwardness and knowing that Elizabeth was unaware of their relationship, picked up her wine glass said, “Excuse me, I’ll just head upstairs. Have a good evening.” She briefly ran her hand down Emily’s arm as she passed her on the way to the stairs. The other two women were silent as they listened to JJ’s footsteps climb the stairs.

“So, mother, you wanted a drink? We have wine open, or I can get you something else?”

“Wine is fine. I didn’t know you had a guest. How long is she here for?”

Emily was pouring her mother a glass of wine, and started to answer her when there was a knock at the door. She handed her the glass of wine and excused herself, grateful for the chance to compose herself.

“Will? What’s wrong?” Emily said when she opened the door.

“I’m so sorry, Emily. JJ isn’t answering her phone and I have to go. My mom had a heart attack, I need to get to the airport,” he said, handing a sleepy Henry over and dropping his backpack just inside the door. “Did you have plans? I’m so sorry.”

“No, Will, it’s fine. Jen is staying here tonight. We’ll be fine,” she said brushing the toddler’s hair back and kissing his forehead. “Is your mom okay? Is there anything we can do?”

“No, no, I’m not sure. She’s in the hospital. I’ve gotta get going,” he drawled out, leaning forward to kiss his son’s hair.

“Call us when you know something.” And with that, Will walked back down the hall and Emily closed the door.

Emily was suddenly aware of a presence behind her, and when she turned, her mother was watching the scene, picking up on a few details she had missed on her way in, like the toddler sneakers under the entry table, and the shelf with boxes of toys and kids’ books under the stairs. “Mother, let me just take him up to bed. I’ll be right back down.”

Emily slipped out of her heels at the bottom of the stairs before slowing starting to climb them.

“Momem?” Henry’s tiny voice asked.

“Yes, baby?” she murmured back.

“Who’s that?”

“That’s my mom, buddy.”

“Oh. She’s pretty.”

Emily chuckled, “Thank you, baby. That’s very sweet of you.”

* * *

Elizabeth watched as she navigated the baby gate at the top of the stairs and into the first door on the right, before she quietly followed her daughter up the stairs. _How much didn’t she know about?_ She could hear Emily talking to the little boy and ducked into the room across the hall when she heard movement.

Emily left the room and headed toward what Elizabeth knew to be the master bedroom. When Elizabeth heard her start talking to JJ, she peeked into the little boy’s room. It was definitely his room – with toys and decorations and a racecar toddler bed that could only belong to a boy. She headed back downstairs, contemplating all this new information while she waited for her daughter.

* * *

In Emily and JJ’s room, they were having a quiet conversation.

“Well, she definitely knows now,” Emily said as she entered the room.

“Who was at the door?” JJ asked, setting her book aside.

“Will. His mom had a heart attack and he has to fly home. He brought Henry by.” JJ looked startled. “Don’t worry, he’s asleep in his room. And Will’s gonna call you when he has more info.”

“Oh my god,” JJ breathed out. Despite their relationship having ended shortly after Henry was born, she still cared about her son’s father. “I take it your mom saw him.”

“Yep, I’m sure she’s going to have a lot of questions tonight.”

JJ stood and walked over to Emily, threading her arms around her waist. “I’m so sorry, babe.”

“No, it’s fine. I knew I couldn’t protect you from her forever,” she muttered, kissing JJ’s forehead and relaxing into the hug. Emily gathered some more strength from her girlfriend before pulling back and saying, “Okay. I’m heading out soon, don’t wait up for me.”

“Okay. I love you,” JJ leaned up for a quick kiss.

“I love you too.”

* * *

Emily descended the stairs, and picked up her heels to slip them back on.

“Mother? You ready?”

“Yes. It appears we have a lot to catch up on.”

Elizabeth’s driver drove them to the high-class restaurant they often ate at when Elizabeth was in town. After the hostess seated them at their usual, reserved table, they were able to place their order for wine. And then, they just stared at each other.

Elizabeth finally decided she’d had enough of the silence. “So how long has that been going on?”

Emily sighed, preparing herself for a possibly contentious conversation. “Two years, but they only moved in a few months ago.”

“And what about the man at the door?”

“That was Will, Henry’s dad. JJ and Will have joint custody, have since he was a baby.”

“And what did – Henry, is it? – call you?”

“Yeah, Henry. He calls me ‘Momem,’” Emily admitted with a small smile. “He’s been calling me that as long as he could talk,” she said, even more quietly. Her mother smiled a bit tensely and waited quietly for any more information to come out of her daughter’s mouth. Emily sighed. “I’ve been in his life since he was born, and after JJ and Will split, we just decided we’d waited long enough. Will started calling me his ‘mom Emily’ after a while, and it’s just stuck.” She paused, then added, “He’s almost three now.”

Her mother just smiled, still a little tense but more authentic now. “Tell me about them,” she inquired, genuinely wanting to know about the people who have her daughter smiling like that.

“Henry is so smart and funny, but he has so much energy too,” Emily laughed a little and rolled her eyes at herself. “I guess he’s just a little boy. And JJ, she’s my best friend.” She abruptly stopped talking at that, unsure what else to say. Her mother has never really supported her relationships with women.

“Emily,” Elizabeth started slowly. “You’ve built this family. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You don’t like me dating women,” she stated simply.

Elizabeth was taken aback. She didn’t realize that was the reason her daughter had kept an entire family from her for more than two years. “I… I am sorry, Emily. I don’t understand that lifestyle. I just didn’t want it to define you, especially when we were moving to all different countries where that would be frowned upon.”

Emily had nothing to say to that, but felt a little more settled than she ever had about her mom’s opinions of her sexuality and relationships. “Okay. Thank you,” she said, before turning the conversation back to her mother by asking about her recent travels.

The rest of their dinner went by smoothly, mostly discussing work and travel and people they both knew. As they left the restaurant to have Elizabeth’s driver drop Emily back off at home, Elizabeth brought up Emily’s family again. “Emily, I hope I can meet JJ and Henry more officially sometime.”

Emily smiled and said, “Yes, mother. That would be nice.”

While they didn’t make any plans for when that might be, Emily knew that the next time her mother was in town, she would have her over for dinner with her girlfriend and son. Entering her apartment, she sighed deeply at the feeling of home – with the toys and kid’s shoes and her family asleep upstairs. After climbing the stairs, she checked in on Henry and went through her nightly routine. Slipping into bed behind JJ, she kissed her bare shoulder and settled in for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, y'all! This was my first work in this fandom.


End file.
